New York Times Claims American Flag Is 'Provocative'

A New York Times "Memo From Turkey" — actually the memo is datelined Turkey, but is written by two Times reporters — reports on American foreign and military policy toward the Kurds and how Turkey is reacting to it. It includes this passage:

After at least a dozen Turkish attacks on the Syrian Kurdish militants last month, the United States took emphatic steps to prevent further clashes, by moving troops to the border in Humvees as a buffer between Turks and Syrian Kurds.

They even flew American flags, a symbolic and provocative move usually avoided in Middle Eastern interventions.

The Times doesn't explain what is "provocative" about flying an American flag. That may be obvious "From Turkey," but it is less than obvious to this America-based reader, who sees foreign flags flown regularly without being provoked by them.

In fact the American flag might have been flown not to provoke, but to calm or mollify the situation; to Turks, an American flag might be less provocative than a Kurdish one.

I've emailed one of the Times reporters who wrote the memo and will update this post if I hear back from him.